For Doughty, that means that he'll go from trying to shut down Getzlaf and Perry to facing Chicago center Jonathan Toews and right wing Patrick Kane, who helped lead the Blackhawks to a five-game victory against the Kings last spring on the way to the Stanley Cup.

He's eager to get another crack at Chicago, and particularly Toews and Kane.

The Chicago Blackhawks will meet the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference Final for the second consecutive year when the puck is dropped to start Game 1 on Sunday at United Center (3 p.m. ET; NBC, TSN, RDS).

"Compare them last year to this year, who knows," Blackhawks forward Patrick Sharp said Saturday. "They're a tough team every game we play them. I'm sure it will be a heck of a series again."

The Kings have made some changes to their lineup since being eliminated in five games by the Blackhawks last season. But the core that led Los Angeles to a Stanley Cup championship in 2012 remains, and 2013 champion Chicago is expecting that formidable group to give them a tough time.

The Chicago Blackhawks continue to try to take advantage of their time off while they await their Western Conference Final opponent to be determined.

The Blackhawks will play the Anaheim Ducks or Los Angeles Kings, who play Game 7 of their second-round series Friday at Honda Center (9 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TSN, RDS).

The conference final begins Sunday, either in Anaheim or Chicago.

"I think a bunch of us will probably be watching the game, and one way or another we'll be getting ready for Sunday, regardless who we play at this point," Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said Friday.

The Blackhawks have not played since Tuesday, when they defeated the Minnesota Wild 2-1 in overtime in Game 6 of their second-round series.

"Of course it's Game 7 and it's usually the Stanley Cup Final too," Williams said Thursday of his childhood imaginations. "It's the same thing with any other sport. It's the last second of the game and buzzer is coming down, it's the ninth inning, two outs, football game, fourth quarter or last play. It's everything. It's you or them, and this is what you relish as a kid, coming out on top."

Williams will play the sixth Game 7 of his NHL career on Friday when the Kings and Anaheim Ducks compete at Honda Center to decide their Western Conference Second Round series (9 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TSN, RDS).

Williams is 5-0 with 10 points (five goals) in his previous Game 7s of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He has two game-winning goals.

After losing the first two games of their Western Conference Second Round series at home, the Ducks won the next three before falling 2-1 in Game 6 on Wednesday at Staples Center. The winner of Game 7 will play the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference Final.

NHL Live with Steve Mears and E.J. Hradek, at 5 p.m. ET on NHL Network, has the lead-up to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Second Round series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Rangers. We'll go out to Consol Energy Center and welcome in NBCSN analyst Pierre McGuire via the Arena Cam to talk about this do-or-die matchup.

In the Western Conference, the Chicago Blackhawks try to close out the Minnesota Wild in Game 6 and Blackhawks insider Tracey Myers will talk about the importance of Chicago finishing the series in their first opportunity.

Paul Steigerwald and Dave Strader will also go inside the series with hits in Pittsburgh and Minnesota.

In a game the New York Rangers knew they had to have in order to regain precious momentum in their Eastern Conference Second Round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the star players were unable to come through in the clutch.

That was the main talking point following New York's 4-2 defeat in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday and a theme that continued during the team's optional skate at its training facility in Greenburgh, N.Y., on Thursday afternoon.

The only player absent was left wing Carl Hagelin. Coach Alain Vigneault said Hagelin is fine and should be in the lineup for Game 5 at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh on Friday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS), with the Rangers down 3-1 in the series and facing Stanley Cup Playoff elimination.

"I'm looking at all possibilities right now," Vigneault told The Record. "We've had a fair amount of success by being consistent [with the line combinations]. With [Kreider] coming in [for Game 4], we basically mixed two lines; [Kreider] went in on one and we took Marty [St. Louis] off that line. So we did make some changes [Wednesday] and those didn't work out to our advantage. So we've got the whole night to think about it and try and come up with a plan."

NHL Live with Steve Mears and E.J. Hradek, at 5 p.m. ET on NHL Network, will preview Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Second Round series between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens as analyst Darren Pang joins us from the Arena Cam at Bell Centre.

The Anaheim Ducks are also in action Thursday, trying to get back in a Western Conference Second Round series which they trail 2-0 to the Los Angeles Kings. Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register will talk about what the Ducks must do to close the gap in the series.

Minnesota Wild forward Mikko Koivu joins the show to talk about their success at home during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Wild are 4-0 at Xcel Energy Center heading into Game 4 Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks.

NEW YORK -- The Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers each will have one of their injured players back in the lineup for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Madison Square Garden.

Pittsburgh defenseman Brooks Orpik will play after missing five games with an undisclosed injury. New York forward Chris Kreider, who's been out with a hand injury, will play his first game in this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs.

He's only 17 but he can see the ice so well and he moves the puck and goes to the open ice all the time, so I just think he's a player that is ready to play in the NHL. I'm really looking forward to coaching someone like this.

— U.S. National Junior Team coach Ron Wilson on Auston Matthews, the projected No. 1 pick of the 2016 NHL Draft